This invention relates to packaging and containers and more particularly to composite containers for unassembled components of a consumer item such as a ceiling fan.
The manufacture of many products, such as ceiling fans, often involves obtaining numerous components of the product (such as housings, the fan motor, fan blades, etc.) from various locations across the country or around the world and assembling them into the final product. Many times this requires the unpackaging of components shipped to one destination and the repacking of those components, along with other components, in either an assembled or unassembled form to another destination. Unpacking and repacking is time-consuming and labor intensive and, unless assembly is also accomplished, adds little or no value to the final product. In addition, the components can become damaged during this process. Simply shipping the components separately to the final destination is not necessarily a solution, however, since the size of the separate containers may very well exceed the size of one container in which the various components are repacked. Moreover, separate containers can become lost in shipment with the result that the buyer may not receive all the components necessary to assemble the final product. It is also undesirable to ship smaller components separately from larger components, even from the same location because of this risk of loss. All components from a single location can, of course, be shipped together by packing them in a larger container, but this usually increases shipping costs.